pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: present


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He Is Faithful

As the wandered in the wilderness without water, the Israelites began to grumble against God and against Moses.  without this basic necessity for life, they were getting testy.  God heard their cry and responded through Moses, bringing forth water from a rock.

How often do we too feel abandoned or question God’s presence?  How common is it to question whether or not He cares when we are walking through a difficult situation in life?  Sometimes in the depths of the valley it is hard to see God’s light and to remain faithful to Him.  Through it all, though, He is faithful to us.  Through it all, He is always right there.

When we look back on our trials, we can usually see how God was there and how He helped or guided us.  As we reflect on and are thankful for His help, we are strengthened in our faith.  Then He is closer when we walk through the next valley or trial, for we know Him more.  God uses our experiences to draw us closer to himself.  We must remain faithful, for He is always faithful.

Scripture reference: Exodus 17: 1-7


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Jump All In

New can sometimes be scary.  But new can sometimes be exciting too!  And often it can be a mix of the two. Our attitude largely has to do with it being our choice (or not) but sometimes new just happens – like the start of a new school year.

In our worship we tend to like the tried and tested.  Whether you are a contemporary worshipper or a traditional worshipper you probably like the routine you are used to.  If you always sing out of the hymnal, then a song from a different source may seem odd.  But if you are used to the Praise Band bringing out new music on a regular basis, then you are comfortable with that.

No matter how we worship or the style we prefer, God is seeking for all of our being to be given in worship.  He is fully present and desires the same of us.  God wants to offer us all of His redeeming grace and transforming power.  By being fully engaged we step into the possibility of His offer.  Step into this and don’t be surprised if you experience God in a new way.  His “new” may be hearing the words of an old hymn in a fresh way or it may be in the words of a new praise song.  He may tough you in a new way during the message or in a time of prayer.  It may even be during the Lord’s prayer that you say every time.  Maybe it is in a personal way during communion.  Jump all in tonight or Sunday and see what God has for you!!

Scripture reference: Psalm 149: 1-4


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He IS for Us!

“If God is for us, who can be against us?”  This question is really more of a statement, isn’t it?  Although Paul does not write it, it is almost implied that nothing else matters if God is on our side.  In eternal terms it is so true.  To God it is absolutely true.  But in our human terms, it is so hard to believe this absolutely and to live it out continually.

As we are all imperfect, we all fall short of the glory of God at times.  OK, often.  At times we all knowingly sin.  OK, often.  In times of hardship, fear, loss, stress, illness, pain… we can lost sight of our foundation and relationship with God or even question Him.  We can even become angry or resentful toward God.  In our human hearts and minds, we can fail to draw upon the only one who truly matters, our Lord and King.

But then He nudges us.  His Spirit stirs in our hearts or His still, small voice whispers in our ear.  We remember the words etched in our hearts – “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us”.  And we remember that these things are just things – small in comparison to God.  He draws near to us as we draw near to Him.  And again we know that He is for us!

Scripture reference: Romans 8: 31-37


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Won’t You Be There Too?

In one of my devotionals this morning I found this great line: “We wrestle with life and dance without recognition”.  How often this is true!  Too often we struggle with an issue, a decision, or a person and do not seek God.  I can almost imagine Him saying, “Hey… I’m right here”.  Not often enough do we think, “Oh ya!”

Yet God is always around us.  God is always there just waiting on us to recognize His presence.  But we too easily get lost in our own perceived ability to do it, in our own little subculture, in our social media worlds, and in our own neat and tidy museum where we gather once a week to sing songs, to pray a few prayers, to fellowship.  We can just see church as the place where God is present to us.  And just in that hour.
God desires more.  God wants more.  He deserves more.  Imagine being head-over-heels in love with someone and choosing to only spend one hour s week with them.  When they’re there all the time!
God wants all of us, all of the time.  He wants to be the first one we turn to on the morning, the last one we say goodnight to, and everything in between.  He’s there.  Won’t you be there too?

Scripture reference: Genesis 28: 10-19a